Teaching Philosophy

Draft of my teaching philosophy.

I am person that is greatly interested in the idea of “meaning.” Thus, I believe it is important to state that my teaching philosophy is not independent of my personal philosophy. More so, I treat my teaching philosophy as a sub-component of my personal philosophy. Knowing this, it has taken be a long while to process what my core beliefs for teaching are. At this moment, I do believe I have extracted out some rather abstract and core beliefs of mine.

I’m obligated to incorporate the pursuit of meaning into my teaching methods and goals. The following are three core focuses I’ve extracted that I believe will not only spark meaning in myself but also my students: expand and build upon the concept of learning how to learn, exploring a breadth of intellectual perspectives, and apply concepts practically.

Learning to learn, or as I like to call it a “learning philosophy”, isn’t something we are taught explicitly in today’s world. Yet, it is a skill that must be developed and applied to almost all aspects of life, one that we never stop using or needing. It be the case that no one teacher can completely convey the idea of a learning philosophy. However, I believe each teacher can help build and influence a students’ learning philosophy, regardless of whether each party is conscious of the process. Thus, I hold myself responsible for conveying my course material in a way that consciously allows students to recognize their learning philosophy and to expand it.

I frequent have students perform labs in class. Within each lab students must take what they learned in lecture and apply. I am sure to make my labs investigate ideas learned in lecture but in slightly different ways. However, instead of giving students examples they have never seen before and expecting them to flawlessly complete them, I take a slightly different approach. I guide the students through the problems probing them with small code examples that then build a much large algorithm.

Imagine yourself in the the students shoes. You have a basic idea of the whatever idea was just conveyed in lecture. Meaning, you probably really only understand how to apply the algorithm, formula, or method in the context it was presented in. Now, a new context for which the method can apply to has been thrown at you. You know the basics but you are not sure how to apply them. This is when guided learning is need. I break down the problem by asking que I would ask myself

It’s not only my responsibility to allow students to think, question, and develop novel ideas but to provide examples of doing so. I would be a fool to think that I am the only one in the class room that can convey the material. Every class room is full of minds that each perceive a topic from a unique perspective. Allowing the students to collaborate and explore each individuals perspective of topic or idea will also build upon every students’ knowledge base and, potentially, even their learning philosophy. It is important to remember that I’m not the only person teaching m courses. Meaning, there are a wide verity of lectures, readings, videos, and people that can provide additional perspectives on a topic that might assist students. I believe it is my responsibility to also direct students towards these additional resources as a valid alternative to learning the material of the course.

At the end of the day even with a perfectly executed teaching methodology a vast majority of the responsibility falls onto the students to take responsibility for their own learning. This does not mean students can not be motivated to learn. Providing practical and passionate application of a particular topic can be enough to spark interest. Thus, I must try to take responsibility for sparking any latent interest within students while providing already interested students with the knowledge and materials to further themselves.

How do these abstract ideas amalgamate into practice? Like many things, the answer is simple yet complex to apply. I don’t believe that there is any one teaching style or method that can fully encompass these aforementioned ideas. Yet, only through a combination of lectures, interactive assignments, and inquiry-based learning can I begin to concertize the abstract. Of course, I am not limited to only combining these three learning methods. An adaptive approach to teaching courses should be taken. Applying a one size fits all to teaching every semester is not my goal, but providing individualized learning is also not fully realizable as of yet. Meaning, if a class one semester responds well to traditional lectures then I should tend towards focusing on lectures. Likewise, if a class another semester excels at learning through interactive and practical activities then the focus should be shifted towards an lab and interactive learning setting. Of course, acknowledging this adaptive idea is a simple task. The complexity is introduced when implementing, discovering a classes learning style, and developing the required material.

While my personal experience is my main source to draw upon for my teaching methods supplemental research will always be required. No one person can approach a problem from all perspectives. Thus, even if there is research that doesn’t relate to my personal teaching toolkit it is ever crucial to continuously read and explore teaching from differing empirical and anecdotal perspectives. Students influence on teaching methods should not be over looked as well, seen as they are the direct beneficiaries of any teaching method. Consistent polling and, more importantly, conversations are needed to extract improvements that can be made to each teaching tool.

To return to the abstract, my overall teaching goal is to help students grasp concepts and, in some cases find meaning within these topics, not solely through my teaching abilities or even the concepts themselves. Rather, through the understanding and expansion of their own learning philosophy, drawing connections and developing practical experience, and exploring a breadth of perspectives.